“Cardinal Dominik Duka, O.P., Emeritus Metropolitan Archbishop of Prague (Czech Republic), turns 80 today and therefore leaves the number of electors in a future conclave: he was born on April 26, 1943 in Hradec Králové.

In 1965 he was admitted to the theological faculty of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Litoměřice.

On January 5, 1968, he went into hiding in the Dominican Order and made his temporary vows on January 6, 1969.

On June 22, 1970, he was ordained a priest.

On January 7, 1972, he made his solemn religious profession.

In 1975, he had his state permission to act as a spiritual administrator revoked and worked as a draftsman in a car factory.

From 1975 to 1986, he was the vicar of the provincial and also the novice master.

In 1979, he obtained a license in theology from the Pontifical Faculty of Theology of St. John the Baptist in Warsaw.

In 1981, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for opposing state surveillance of churches.

After his release, he was elected superior of the Dominican Province of Bohemia and Moravia, a position he held until 1998.

On June 6, 1998, he was elected Bishop of Hradec Králové by John Paul II.

On November 6, 2004, John Paul II appointed him the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Litoměřice, a position he held until November 22, 2008.

On February 13, 2010, he was promoted by Benedict XVI to Metropolitan Archbishop of Prague. On April 21 of the same year, he was elected president of the Czech Bishops’ Conference. He remained in this position until 2020.

The same Benedict XVI created him a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church in the consistory of February 18, 2012, with the title of Santi Marcellino e Pietro.

He participated in the conclave of 2013.

On May 13, 2022, Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Metropolitan Archbishop of Prague due to his age.

As of today, the Sacred College consists of 122 cardinal electors and 100 non-electors.”